The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art.
Customer satisfaction and retention can be strongly related to a company's ability to provide a personalized shopping experience. E-commerce has changed the retail industry by offering better customer service than their brick and mortar counterparts. The success of e-commerce can be attributed to the personalization of the shopping web service creating a customized shopping experience. This personalization often goes far beyond a customer's current expectations, creating customer loyalty.
E-commerce websites often provide targeted advertisement and personalized product suggestions based on the customer's purchase history, favorite products, and so forth. Brick and mortar stores do not have this capability and traditionally advertise products in a non-interactive manner. For example, retailers will often place product marketing messages displayed through the mass media or in store aisles. Hence, the target marketing segments are neither very specific nor personalized.
To compete with the growing trend of online shopping, brick and mortar stores must refocus their customer service practice by adding technologies to create a totally new shopping experience. To that end, many retailers have begun to use smart ID tags to provide a better shopping experience for their customers. For example, retailers use smart ID tags on products, such as clothing, to better ensure shelves remain stocked with products of different sizes and colors and provide a concise inventory list of products stored in the backrooms to employees that are assisting customers. However, this measure alone has not provided the customers with personalized customer service needed to compete with many of the online retailers.
An opportunity arises for a system to automatically provide in-store customers with a more personalized in-store shopping experience. For example, for customers that are wandering along store aisles and selecting products, interactive and powerful cross-selling and upselling promotions could be presented to the customers to influence their buying decisions and maximize the customers' total purchase value.